In a move that seems oddly out of synch with what's been going on in the market for the last five years or so, analyst firm Juniper Research has declared that the 'unwired enterprise' has almost arrived. The firm reckons that the use of enterprise devices will rise by 56% between 2008 and 2014 and mobile users will generate US$284bn by 2014. Which of these elements of the research equates to the arrival of the unwired enterprise is unclear, perhaps it's a combination of both.
More tellingly, the report does reveal that there's set to be a massive rise in the proportion of 3.5G and 3.9G devices connected. That figure will rise from 13% last year to nearly 80% in 2014. Juniper also reports that the use of wireless dongles is falling away as plug-in data cards and embedded wireless modems supersede them.
Elsewhere, Yankee Group, with its concept of 'Anywhere IT', which encompasses all IT that allows users to work from any location and any device with the best possible experience, reckons that the ICT market will hit the US$4trillion mark worldwide by 2016.
Whichever way you look at it, the analysts certainly see a lot of investment being made in mobility.
I've been writing about technology for nearly 20 years, including editing industry magazines Connect and Communications International. In 2002 I co-founded Futurity Media with Anthony Plewes. My focus in Futurity Media is in emerging technologies, social media and future gazing. As a graduate of philosophy & science, I have studied futurology & foresight to the post-grad level.